2003

The comedy duo – Cheech and Chong is reuniting after 20 years for a new feature set up at New Line Cinema that will catch up with Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong’s wacky stoner personas in the present day.The untitled project is in the early stages of development at New Line. Marin and Chong already have worked out a story line and will pen the script along with an additional writer to be recruited by New Line. Robbi Chong, one of Chong’s daughters, will serve as a producer on the project.”The world is ripe and ready for a new Cheech & Chong movie, especially considering they have a whole new generation of fans out there,” said New Line senior vp production Kent Alterman, who is overseeing the project alongside New Line production president Toby Emmerich. “They came in and told us that they’re ready to do something again, which we think is a great idea.”After parting company in the mid-1980s, Marin and Chong started talking about working together again about a year ago when they realized that there was a lot of Cheech & Chong-related merchandise being sold — particularly through the Internet — that they weren’t profiting from at all.
Source etonline.com.

Weezer is reportedly about to head back in the studio working on the follow up to 2002

Steve Winwood has announced plans for a fall U.S. tour, kicking off Sept. 18 in Austin, Texas, and wrapping Oct. 12 in Philadelphia. The outing comes in support of his first solo album in seven years, “About Time,” released on his own Wincraft Music label.
Visit Glide’s exclusive interview with Steve Winwood’s drummer Walfredo Reyes in our July issue.
Here are Steve Winwood’s tour dates:
Sept. 18: Austin, Texas (Stubb’s)Sept. 19: Austin, Texas (Austin City Limits)Sept. 20: Dallas (Granada Theatre)Sept. 22: Phoenix (Celebrity Theatre)Sept. 23: Temecula, Calif. (Pachanga Resort)Sept. 25: Los Angeles (Wiltern Theatre)Sept. 26: Las Vegas (the Joint)Sept. 27: Lake Tahoe, Nev. (Caesars Tahoe)Sept. 28: San Francisco (Warfield)Sept. 30: Salt Lake City (Kingsbury)Oct. 2: Denver (Fillmore)Oct. 3: Kansas City, Kan. (Uptown)Oct. 4: Chicago (House of Blues)Oct. 5: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Michigan Theatre)Oct. 8: Boston (Orpheum Theatre)Oct. 9: New York (Beacon Theatre)Oct. 11: Washington, D.C. (9:30 Club)Oct. 12: Philadelphia (Tower Theatre)

Rhino’s upgrade of Elvis Costello’s back catalog will continue with a staggering expansion of three early 1980s albums. Due Sept. 9 are two-disc versions of 1980’s “Get Happy,” 1981’s “Trust” and 1983’s “Punch the Clock.”
A total of 73 additional tracks have been added across the three titles, which only comprised 47 songs in their original incarnation. All were recorded with the Attractions — keyboardist Steve Nieve, drummer Pete Thomas and bassist Bruce Thomas — as Costello’s core backing band.
Each disc substantially grows from the mid-1990s Rykodisc reissues of the same albums. Those were part of a program to internationalize the titles in Costello’s catalog, making U.S. and European versions the same. Rhino’s distinguish themselves not only with additional bonus material, but keep the remastered original album on one disc, while adding a second to house outtakes, demos and live tracks.
Source Billboard.com.

Tyler Hamilton has been a media favorite since making the decision to continue in this year’s Tour de France despite a broken collarbone suffered early in the race. Next year, filmmakers will take the story of Hamilton’s perseverence to the big screen

Air guitar has gone high-tech, as Hollywood Records is using CD entertainment technology from MusicPlayground to bring karaoke into a whole new sphere. “The World’s Greatest Air Guitar Album” is the first full-length commercial release to offer the bonus, which enables consumers to play an instrument along with 24 different anthems, including Deep Purple’s “Smoke on the Water,” Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” and Boston’s “More Than a Feeling.”
What makes this experience different from holding a tennis racquet while posing is MusicPlayground. Using either a computer keyboard or a separately available V-Pick “interactive guitar pick,” fans can play along with what the company calls an onscreen Rhythm EKG. This display shows cues and lyrics, turning consumers into a guitarist the same way a karaoke machine would make them a vocalist.
Source Billboard.com.

Welsh rock act Super Furry Animals, whose sixth album “Phantom Power” is due July 29 from XL/Beggars Group, will link with Modesto, Calif.-based rock outfit Grandaddy for a fall U.S. tour, due to kick off Sept. 18 in San Francisco.
Grandaddy’s fourth album, “Sumday” (V2) debuted last month at No. 84 on The Billboard 200. The critically acclaimed four-piece will co-headline with Super Furry Animals on the trek, which stretches through an Oct. 3-4 stand at New York’s Irving Plaza.
For a complete list of tour dates, visit the article at Billboard.com.